The Betrayal
by TheSharing
Summary: Rachel's world is about to change forever...
1. Rachel

**Rachel**

My name is Rachel.

His name is Visser One, the Andalite-Controller looking down at me.

Looking down at me? Where am I? The last thing I remember is Tobias... Tobias looking at me with those beautiful eyes of his... Sad eyes, filled with tears... before...

Before I died.

I had died, hadn't I?

((You fight well, human.))

I remembered those words. I remembered the polar bear's blow. I remembered something else too, faintly... The Ellimist? Did he have something to do with this?

((It seems the Yeerks shall be victorious after all, Rachel.))

I was suspended underwater, in some sort of tank. The blue water shimmered around me. I was on my back, looking up towards the surface. Visser One's stalk eyes peered down at me menacingly. Suddenly, I was alive with rage, with hatred. I wanted to leap out of the water and take him down, kill him for what he'd done to me, to my friends. To Elfangor. Kill him for this stupid war. I could feel the anger bubbling inside me as the visser smiled in a way only an Andalite can, with his eyes. It infuriated me even more, seeing him so calm. He knew he had total control over me. I could not move.

Couldn't move? Oh, no! Was I a Controller? Had a Yeerk been put in my head?

_Get it out of me! Get it out of me! Get out of me, you filthy slug!!_

((No, we have not taken your mind...yet.)) The visser replied, as if reading my thoughts. ((Your friends fought bravely, and well. They managed to suspend the war for quite some time. They even managed to force me from my host. I was to live out the rest of my days as a Yeerk. I'll give you Animorphs some credit for that accomplishment...)) Through the water, I was barely able to make out the faint clicking noise of his hooves as he paced before the tank. ((You died on the Blade Ship, Rachel. But you died in vain.))

_No, no. This can't be happening. This is all a dream. It has to be. Tobias..._

((The Blade Ship escaped. With the escafil device. In the years since that day, the traitorous Yeerks aboard the ship have managed to keep you in a state of suspension, delaying the process of decay. They wished to revive you, Rachel. And as much as I would have loved to find your corpse when I reclaimed my vessel, I was even more thrilled to discover that I could, in fact, oversee your infestation myself. It will be quite the revenge, don't you think?)) His thought-speak laugh echoed in my mind, taunting me. I cursed him inside. This was all too awful to bear. I'd rather die than be a Controller.

((You'd probably like to know what happened to your friends, yes?)) Again, he smiled that Andalite smile. Only looks can be deceiving. It wasn't really an Andalite smile. It was the smile of pure evil. ((Alright. I'll indulge you. It's the least I can do...))

((Cassie is quite safe, at home on Earth...for now. The others, I'm afraid... Their fate was not a pleasant one. They attempted to attack this ship. A very brave attempt, indeed. But you more than anyone should know how foolishness and bravery go hand in hand... They're dead now. Every last one of them.))

_No... Tobias. He has to be lying. They're alive, somehow. I know it._

_Tobias... I love you.. You remember that, don't you?_

I tried my hardest to move. To kick. To scream. Anything. But I was frozen in the pool. Again, the thought-speak laughter boomed through my head.

((I have made a deal with The One. I have regained my rightful form. And I shall have my revenge. Soon, Earth and the rest of the galaxy will belong to the Yeerks. The compromise you naive humans made with my species is over. Those who betrayed me have paid their price. The Yeerk Empire is now stronger than ever. Only those with strong wills and an even stronger hatred for your kind are left. There is no more Council of Thirteen. There is no Emperor. There is only The One. And soon, you too shall see his vision. You shall have a part to play in shaping this galaxy, making things the way they were meant to be... You Animorphs are finished, Rachel. It is time to say goodbye.))

Suddenly, I heard a humming sound to my left. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a circular, metal plate in the side of the pool slide open. Out swam a grotesque, gray slug-like creature. The sight of it filled me with rage, anguish, disgust, and an overwhelming sadness all at once. I knew what it was.

It was the end of my freedom. It was a Yeerk.


	2. Kellser 916

**Kellser 916**

**Three Years Later**

My eyes moved to look out the Bug fighter window. Well, not my eyes. Rachel's eyes. But I owned them now. What I saw with them pleased me greatly.

The One needed us to win. I knew that much. With his help, Visser One was able to assemble nearly every Yeerk from every corner of the galaxy. He focused our forces on Earth, seized control, made the humans beg like the pathetic fools they are. Funny. We are "slugs," but to this Earth filth, we are gods. Size does not matter if you do not strive to meet your full potential. The Yeerk race has done this from the beginning. We knew if we were to have the universe in our grasp, we would have to take it. No one was going to hand it to us on a silver platter.

Sure, The One had pulled us out of our temporary slump, restored our race to its full glory, but the destruction I witnessed below me was _our _work. The Yeerks demolished those human establishments. The Yeerks built those beautiful pools below us. The Yeerks installed those glorious Kandrona rays, feeding my brothers and sisters. It was a beautiful sight. More beautiful than the Yeerk home world itself, if I dare say. This was a home fit for a queen. And that's exactly what I was to become.

I would be promoted to Visser Two by the end of the day. I was certain of that. Because I promised something to Visser One that no one else could. I would deliver the Animorphs to him, as they were _before _the war got out of hand.

You see, I have all of Rachel's memories. I remembered The Ellimist's proposal, his offer to save her and her friends, relocate them to a safe world. He predicted that the Yeerks would win. How right he was...

The Bug fighter slowly veered towards the EGS tower, looming above the beautiful pool below us.

((What's it like, Rachel? How does it feel to know you're about to see your friends again, and that there's nothing you can do to save them, to warn them? To let them know they're making the wrong choice?))

I felt her pain. I smiled.

((Shut up...)) she replied. ((Shut up, shut up, shut up...))

((But don't you recognize this place, Rachel? It's your home. Surely it should please you to see it again, though the Yeerks have added some homey touches...))

((Shut up, you filthy slug!!)) she roared. ((You're nothing! I feel sorry for you, Kellser! You're nothing without me! I would pity you if I weren't so disgusted!))

((Oh, but I pity you, Rachel. Thrown into a war you didn't even understand? Never to grow up, to live your life, to experience love? Have you forgotten so soon, Rachel? You'll see him today. You'll see Tobias.))

That really got her going. I feared for a moment that she may gain temporary control of the body, but I dominated her. I pushed her so far back into the recesses of the mind that I could barely hear her thoughts.

Anything can be accomplished when you put your mind to it. I'm not weak like the others. Perhaps this girl was the perfect host for me after all.

Finally, the ship touched down. Visser One and I approached the door, preparing to disembark. As the moments passed, I could feel the tension building between us. He was skeptical of my story, unsure of how much was true and how much was fabricated. I knew that some part of him feared that this was an elaborate scheme to overthrow him, have him killed. I'd worked up plenty of schemes like that before, but this wasn't one of them. I had one goal today.

I wanted to break Rachel.

If she saw her friends again, their youth, their innocence, their naivety, I knew she would lose all her strength, all her fight, and give in. She knew this too. I could feel her fear rising as the Bug fighter's door slowly edged open.

There they stood, the Animorphs. A smile curled across my lips. The visser and I stepped down and approached them with confidence.

((Nooooo!)) Rachel screamed in my mind. ((No! God, no! This can't be happening..))

((Wake up, fool.)) I replied. ((This is no dream. This is your own personal nightmare.)) I smiled at myself.

There they stood, the rebel gang of "Andalite bandits." It's funny to think of the visser's foolishness now. No one had expected this group to be composed of humans before, but now it all seemed so obvious. Part of me was ashamed of my brothers and sisters, of how ignorant they were. But no matter. We had them now. We had won. And the Animorphs knew it just as well as we did. Their efforts would prove to be futile. And no one, not even that pesky Ellimist, could overpower The One.

The Animorphs stood together, shocked. Their stunned faces strongly amused the visser and I. ((Well, well,)) he said. ((Right on schedule. Just as you said it would be.))

The young Rachel stared at me in disbelief. I could see the gears turning in her head as she realized the truth, as she stared into the looking glass of her future. There were no curses in my mind, no screams of rage from my Rachel. She was silent. She was beaten. All that remained of her was a sad wave of guilt that was washed away as quickly as it came.

"Hello, Rachel," I said. This was my time of triumph. This was my glory.

"Hello, Rachel," she replied.


End file.
